Create a new workbook

A Microsoft Office Excel workbook is a file that contains one or more worksheets that you can use to organize various kinds of related information. To create a new workbook, you can open a blank workbook. You can also base a new workbook on an existing workbook, the default workbook template, or any other template.

Base a new workbook on an existing workbook

If you often use the same layout or data in a workbook, save it as a template so you can use the template to create more workbooks instead of starting from scratch. For more information, see Save a workbook as a template.

Once you save a workbook as a template, you can open it like any other template in Excel. See the next section on how to open a workbook based on a template.

Base a new workbook on a template

Click File > New.

Do one of the following:

To use one of the sample templates that come with Excel, under Featured, navigate to the template that you want, and then double-click the template.

To create a new workbook based on a custom template you created, click Personal, and then double-click the template that you want.

Notes:

The Personal section lists the templates that you have created. Custom templates are typically stored in the Templates folder, which is usually C:\Users\user_name\Documents\Custom Office Templates in Windows 10. If you don't see your templates there, click File > Options > Save and check the location that appears in the Default personal templates location option.

If you can't see the custom templates that you created using an earlier version of Office, see the available resolutions mentioned in Where are my custom templates?.

Tips: For more workbook template options, you can do the following:

Search for templates in Search for online templates search box.

You can also search for templates by category. To see the categories, you have to first search for templates as described in the previous step. Once the search results display, the category list displays to the right side of the search results. You can then click on a specific category to narrow your search and find the template you want.

Base a new workbook on an existing workbook

In the New from Existing Workbook dialog box, browse to the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the workbook that you want to open.

Click the workbook, and then click Create New.

Base a new workbook on a template

Click the File tab.

Click New.

Do one of the following:

To use one of the sample templates that come with Excel, under Available Templates, click Sample Templates and then double-click the template that you want.

To use a recently used template, click Recent Templates, and then double-click the template that you want.

To use your own template, on the My Templates, and then on the Personal Templates tab in the New dialog box, double-click the template that you want.

Note: The Personal Templates tab lists the templates that you have created. If you do not see the template that you want to use, make sure that it is located in the correct folder. Custom templates are typically stored in the Templates folder, which is usually C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Templates in Windows Vista, and C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates in Microsoft Windows XP.

Tip: To obtain more workbook templates, you can download them from Microsoft Office.com. In Available Templates, under Office.com Templates, click a specific template category, and then double-click the template that you want to download.

Open a new, blank workbook

Click Microsoft Office Button
, and then click New.

Under Templates, make sure that Blank and recent is selected, and then under Blank and recent in the right pane, double-click Blank Workbook.

Keyboard shortcut To quickly create a new, blank workbook, you can also press CTRL+N.

Tips:

By default, a new workbook contains three worksheets, but you can change the number of worksheets that you want a new workbook to contain under When creating new workbooks on the Popular tab in the Excel Options dialog box (Microsoft Office Button
, Excel Options button).

Base a new workbook on an existing workbook

In the New from Existing Workbook dialog box, browse to the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the workbook that you want to open.

Click the workbook, and then click Create New.

Base a new workbook on a template

Click Microsoft Office Button
, and then click New.

Under Templates, click Installed Templates or My templates.

Do one of the following:

To use an installed template, under Installed Templates, click the template that you want, and then click Create.

To use your own template, on the My Templates tab, double-click the template that you want.

Note: The My Templates tab lists the templates that you have created. If you do not see the template that you want to use, make sure that it is located in the correct folder. Custom templates are typically stored in the Templates folder, which is usually C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Templates in Windows Vista, and C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates in Microsoft Windows XP.

Tips:

To obtain more workbook templates, you can download them from Microsoft Office Online. In the New Workbook dialog box, under Microsoft Office Online, click a specific template category, click the template that you want to download, and then click Download.